Tickets from red-light cameras bring delayed lesson in the law

As a way to punish wrongdoers, cameras at busy intersections snapping photos of red-light runners is effective. As a teaching tool, it has a delayed effect.

There's nothing like the sound of a siren, the reflection of red and blue lights on the dash to inform you that you've done wrong.

Now, that teaching moment comes weeks later in the form of a letter in the mail. Inside: a citation and photo of your vehicle violating the law.

More and more cities in Florida are poking poles topped with high-tech cameras into the ground near busy intersections. The shutters and "record" buttons are triggered when someone runs a red light, or rolls through making a right turn.

In Lakeland, two women have tied for the top spot with seven violations, racking up over $1,000 in fines since the lights were installed on June 1. The first two tickets are $125 each. Subsequent ones are $250. This week, the city issued its top 10 list of red-light violators who were photographed during the violations.

Lakeland Police spokesman Jack Gillen said a review procedure is in place to make sure that drivers getting citations in the mail are indeed violators. Videotape from an offense first goes to the company that runs the cameras, which culls questionable cases. The rest are then sent to a team of 12 police officers that reviews videos. Again, Gillen said, if there is a questionable case, the citation is tossed.

Those who get citations can log on to a Web site, enter the citation number and watch the video of their transgression, Gillen said.

"We never hear from those people again," he said.

The lights were installed less than two months ago, he said. So far, two drivers have earned the top spot with fines totaling $1,250, he said.

The violations include not only those who blast through red lights, but those who roll through red lights making right turns.

"My answer to that is that they all are traffic violations," Gillen said.

The cameras are owned by American Traffic Solutions, which has made huge inroads in Florida's cities and counties. The company, which is based in Arizona, counts Florida among its biggest customers.

Governments in more than a dozen Sunshine State jurisdictions have cameras snapping photos and rolling video of scofflaws. Temple Terrace is among the throng.

In the first five months after cameras were installed at two intersections in town, 29,636 violations were logged, city officials reported in April.

Of those, the city reviewed 15,408 photographs and video and ended up issuing 10,866 citations to owners of vehicles whose license plates were captured on film.